Scottish Gritters Spark Social Media Fun As Trucks With Creative Names Hit The Streets

Topline

Fans across the world are embracing the return of an annual Scottish tradition that has captured the hearts of hundreds of thousands of social media fans: the naming of the nation’s slow plows and salt trucks — and the ability to track the fleet online.

A gritter passes near the Glenshee Ski Centre in Scotland.

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Key Facts

Called “gritters,” the salt trucks and plows that keep the 400-plus miles of Scotland roads snow-free have for years been subject to a public naming process that sees the vehicles dubbed creative and pun-filed names like David Plowie, Gritney Spears and Gritter Thunberg.

And, just like the annual naming tradition, the fleet of plows and salt trucks goes viral each year—a Thursday afternoon post on X about the gritter fleet had almost 800,000 views by Friday afternoon and similar tweets have gone viral in years past.

The public has until Jan. 16 to submit name suggestions for this year’s campaign to Amey Limited, the company that runs the country’s salt trucks, and the newly named trucks will join classics like Skid Vicious, Sweet Child O’ Brine and Gritallica.

Because the contest is still open, the 2023/2024 names aren’t yet known—with the exception of one that has already been approved: Keanu Freeze was introduced to the public last month through a “Matrix”-themed YouTube video.

In addition to the naming of the trucks, anyone interested in the whereabouts of the roughly 240 gritters can track their movements online—one Scottish newspaper reports that the website can get 100,000 visitors a day.

A gritter drives through Braemar, Aberdeenshire.

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Crucial Quote

“It’s times like these that make me extra proud of being a Scot,” one woman wrote on X in response to a viral tweet about the gritters.

Big Number

4,000. That’s about how many gritter names were submitted by the Scottish public for consideration in 2023, Amey said.

Key Background

The naming of the gritters started as an annual partnership between Amey and local schools, but the pandemic pushed it online in 2020 and it was subsequently opened to the wider Scottish public. There were 1,200 online entries to the contest the first winter and it has grown in popularity each year since. Several dozen names are chosen each year and added to the fleet of more than 200 trucks. Other names include Sleetwood Mac, Melter Skelter, You’re A Blizzard, Harry and Sir David Attenbrrrrrr.

Tangent

The Scots aren’t the only ones who’ve allowed the public to name their equipment. Washington State residents have voted in a bracket-like contest to name their snow plows, which have names like Betty Whiteout, Darth Blader, Plow Chicka Plow Plow, and Plowasaurus Rex. Madison, Wisconsin has done the same, and its contest has produced plows dubbed Dolly Plowton and Snobi Wan Kenobi. Agencies in Minnesota, Alaska and Ohio have also hosted contests, among other states, as did the the Natural Environment Research Council in Britain back in 2016, which led to the now-famous moniker of Boaty McBoatface, the lead boat in a trio of autonomous underwater vehicles.